The legend that is Sir Richard Branson turned the grand old age of 60 in July and to celebrate his birthday he decided to try and set a few new World Records, as you do!
This is the man that is no stranger to word record breaking challenges – from the attempts in the 1980’s to make the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing (his first attempt in the “Virgin Atlantic Challenger” led to the boat capsizing in British waters and a rescue by RAF helicopter), attempts to circumnavigate the globe by balloon, crossing the English Channel from Dover to Calais in an amphibious vehicle and bizarrely In March 2010 trying for the world record of putting a round of golf in the dark at the Black Light Mini Golf in the Docklands Melbourne.
This time Branson planned to kitesurf across the English Channel with his son, daughter and various other kitesurfing friends (including 5 x World Champion Arron Hadlow and Course Racing World Champion Stef Bridge) breaking three records while doing so (largest group of kitesurfers to cross the Channel, oldest person to kitesurf across the Channel and the fastest kitesurf crossing of the Channel). Blue Juice were onboard to film and photograph the event for Virgin and we were honoured to be invited to take part in a record breaking challenge!
Conditions were favourable on the first attempt on 24th August. The attempt started well and the party were 5 miles into the crossing before safety concerns forced the group back. Whilst the conditions were favourable for the kitesurfers, the Channel swell was getting too large and the wind too strong for the safety boats to continue. Frustrated, and after some heated discussions, Branson turned back.
A second attempt was made the following day, but in true British style the weather changed completely with barely a breeze blowing on the coast at Dungeness. Just after lunch the attempt was called off and Branson took us all for chips and a pint as an alternative to the vino and frogs legs that were waiting on the beach in France.
We look forward to covering the next attempted crossing, hopefully within the next four weeks – thanks must go to Virgin Active and of course, Sir Richard Branson – an absolute legend.
We have just returned from a few days in Portugal, a location that at this time of year should deliver perfect kitesurf conditions and locations – wind, sun, lagoons and waves. Unfortunately this time round the Country was going to make us work extra hard to get the footage and photos we wanted in such a short period of time.
As a low pressure settled across most of Europe we were greeted each morning in Peniche with windless fog and drizzle and temps of around 16 degrees. The mornings were spent making calls to ‘those in the know’ and kite schools up and down the coastline, checking Wind Guru and generally cursing the miserable weather. Whispers of wind filtered through by lunchtime at locations that were generally atleast 200km way in either direction. The afternoons were spent driving up and down the A8 and realising that selecting ‘Do not avoid unpaved roads’ on a TomTom can leave you driving down a track that at points was so narrow it would be tricky enough to walk across!
But all this effort on a trip that should have been so easy made the times we finally found wind and sun all the more rewarding. We were lucky enough to enjoy these moments with Jo Wilson (Naish, Protest) and Jalou Langeree (Naish, O’Neill, Ben & Jerrys) – and the footage and stills are a testament to their dedication to make the most of what Portugal ‘didn’t’ chuck at us.
Video and pics to follow.
Posted on August 22nd, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
This weekend we were back on tour with the British Kitesurfing Association in Barrow, Cumbria as the second Kiteival of the season kicked off. Filming and photographing a Kiteival can be pretty hard work – there is so much going on at the same time, on the water and off, that it becomes a real challenge trying capture every key moment but we are pretty happy with the results! We broke our own editing record also, the 10 minute event video was online less than 48 hours after the competition was brought to a close on Sunday afternoon.
Round 3 of the BKSA Freestyle Kitesurf Championships took place in Hunstanton, Norfolk over the weekend of the 1oth and 11th July. Unfortunately the event clashed with the filming of the Cannonball Run Europe, but luckily James Boulding was in attendance to film the event and post the tapes down for a Blue Juice edit – cheers James!
We have just got back from our 9th Cannonball Run, the last 5 of which we have been responsible for all web, video and photography work as the rally roared across Europe.
The event is best described as a rolling party, where petrol heads from around the world come to drive on some of the best roads and track Europe has to offer, staying in some of the most luxurious hotels in beautiful destinations. This year we took in the sights and sounds of Portoroz (Slovenia), Rappalo, the Monza F1 track, Milan and Versailles.
The biggest challenge for us is the incredibly tight deadlines and quick turnaround on our work throughout the week. Each day the event website was updated with photos and a blog from the previous day. Every evening the video tapes from two cameras where logged and transferred to our mobile editing suite. During the day we edited, colour graded and mixed an appropriately pumping soundtrack, all while travelling between checkpoints. In 6 days we covered 2500 miles, captured and processed 18 hours of high definition video footage, took over 1200 images and edited a 15 minute video which received a standing ovation when it was shown at The Grand Hotel, Brighton, during the final night party. Oh, and we got to party a bit too!
The event is now over, but our work has really only just begun – we have now started work on editing a 50 minute documentary of the event and syndicating video content to various TV and News channels globally. And by the time we call ‘that’s a wrap’ on this years event, planning will be well underway for 2011!
Over the last few months we have been working on a number of B2B promotional videos for retail shopping centres around the country. It’s been a great opportunity to try out some new ideas and work closely with a great marketing company who are looking try something innovative on projects that typically would be, well rather dull!
One such project has been for a major centre in Cardiff. 6 actors and actresses delivering lines throughout the centre and shot as ‘point of view’, the requirement was to produce a seamless tour of the shopping arcade. This meant the whole 3 minutes needed to be shot in a single take – if anyone messed up (including the camera operator!) it was back to the start.
Everything was shot using a glide cam body mount and floating arm to ensure smooth motion as the camera operator moved around, and the final edit is being colour graded in a Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels style. We were also responsible for casting the actors based on the script provided – the marketing company however were solely responsible for the crew all ending up in Flairz 70’s revival club that evening!
We were really pleased when this video dropped through the post from our friends Team Snake Oil in Norway. Blue Juice provided footage from last years Cannonball Run Europe to the Norwegian National TV channel to accompany a piece ahead of the 2010 event. We don’t have a clue what they are saying, but it looks great!
I finally got my hands on one of the most talked about gadgets for some time – a 64gb wifi iPad. Being an Apple addict and a gadget freak it was inevitable that I was going to have nothing but love and good things to say about the device but here goes…
I decided not to go for the WiFi + 3G version, opting for a 64gb Wifi only. I figured that you are really always only a few minutes away from a wifi spot, and I already pay for a data tariff on my iPhone so I didn’t fancy the idea of another sim card/data contract. If I ever need to send or receive and email or get online and I am not near a wifi network I can just use the iPhone.
So what did I install from the off?
- WordPress (this entire blog entry was written on the iPad, both using the onscreen keyboard and my bluetooth keyboard)
- Twitterific – stunning on the iPad
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- WeatherPro HD
- RealFootball HD
- RealRacing HD (listen to your own tunes while racing Gran Turismo style, looks unbelievable and plays just as good)
- keynote, pages and numbers
I then filled it with my video and photography work to act as a portfolio when with clients. And this got me thinking – i often spend quite a lot of cash printing photo books and DVDs to send to prospects. I am now considering purchasing the basic 16gb Wifi iPad, filling it with my work and sending it to prospects. Yes, novelty factor, but that can be the difference when tendering for business. Many see the iPad as a must have not a need to have, but in my line of work, the possibilities are endless such as being able to tether the screen to my HDSLR as a field monitor or using it as a control surface in one of the many applications I use such as Final Cut Pro, Motion and Color. Already I cannot wait for the camera connector kit to arrive – the prospect of being able to connect up my cameras while on location and backup the files and even preview in RAW makes the device worth purchasing for that reason alone.
And if all that means nothing to you how about the next time you take a long haul flight – uninterrupted high definition films, games, music and email for 12 hours without needing a plug – the inflight entertainment lottery of dodgy contrasty screens and rubbish audio a thing of the past..
June is not just a time for busting out the BBQ and enjoying long summer evenings – for Blue Juice its the time of year we really start getting ready for the Cannonball Run Europe.
We have been a part of the event since its launch in 2002, and in 2006 we became the media partner on the event – responsible for all the photos and video work. Each year we have looked at new and innovative ways to film and present the event online, and for the this years usual written daily blog will be accompanied for the first time with a daily video podcast. Catch up and watch all the days activities as Liana sums up each stage as the event rolls on.
The lack of wind all around the UK recently threatened to scupper the first BKSA Kiteival of 2010 this weekend in Redcar, Teeside. Whilst the wind conditions did put a stop to many of the heats, the sea breezes kept the course racers and landboarders happy and with a weekend of sunshine the event was a complete success. Check out our video of the weekend here:
Conditions were favourable on the first attempt on 24th August. The attempt started well and the party were 5 miles into the crossing before safety concerns forced the group back. Whilst the conditions were favourable for the kitesurfers, the Channel swell was getting too large and the wind too strong for the safety boats to continue. Frustrated, and after some heated discussions, Branson turned back.
